NHL will not reopen current Collective Bargaining Agreement

The league announced Friday, it will not reopen the CBA which could be step one in maintaining labor peace before the agreement runs out in 2022.

"Based on the current state of the game and the business of the game, the NHL believes it is essential to continue building upon the momentum we have created with our Players and, therefore, will not exercise its option to reopen the CBA," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a statement, via NHL.com. "Rather, we are prepared to have the current CBA remain in effect for its full term — three more seasons through the conclusion of the 2021-22 season. It is our hope that a continued, sustained period of labor peace will enable us to further grow the game and benefit all constituent groups: NHL Players, Clubs, our business partners and, most important, our fans.

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"In any CBA, the parties can always identify issues they are unhappy with and would like to see changed. This is certainly true from the League's standpoint. However, our analysis makes clear that the benefits of continuing to operate under the terms of the current CBA -- while working with the Players' Association to address our respective concerns -- far outweigh the disruptive consequences of terminating it following the upcoming season."

Now, the NHL Players Association has a choice to make as well. If it is happy with the CBA it can let it ride all the way to its expiration on Sept. 15, 2022.

But if it wants something to be changed, it can file to terminate the agreement early by Sept. 15. That would trigger expiration of the CBA on Sept. 15, 2020.

Both sides have been in discussion in regards to the CBA in recent months, and according to NHL.com, those meetings have been "productive and cordial."

The NHL has been a league fraught with labor issues since Gary Bettman took over as commissioner in 1993.